This drama took me on a rollercoaster of emotions and I can't wait to go back and re-watch it in full. I love how it is more "adult" than the usual dramas these days. Without giving too many things away, it addresses the themes of sickness, marriage, family, and strength. It's a refreshing change from other dramas because you get to see their lives AFTER they have fallen in love. Usually a drama ends when the leads get together and their main obstacle has been overcome. But that isn't real life. Watching this drama, I felt that I was privileged enough to actually catch a glimpse of a real couple's journey as they deal with whatever life throws at them.
Do yourself a favour and watch this drama.
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Wonderful but my boredom when watching it is significant. Chang Hee is my favorite part.
My Liberation Notes is a slice-of-life drama about three siblings and their mysterious neighbors; who are dissatisfied with life in one way or another. They live in the countryside about an hour outside of Seoul. The show is showing the character's journey that was so refreshing and realistic. Liberation is a journey of identifying and persevering to keep working through it. Identifying your struggles and finding the root cause is a hard thing to do. Acceptance and taking action to make things better is even harder.At first, I watch this because it has a similar premise because My Mister also followed the lives of three brothers. In My Mister, they come together to help each other heal along with the FL. Then also its' deep exploration of the character's mental states. But the main difference, at least this is my opinion, is while both shows are character-driven, My Mister has much stronger external plots and twists that make more eye-opening action scenes, much more than My Liberation Notes. In My Liberation Notes, the story progresses by following the daily lives, like the vlogs of these characters. So if you enjoyed My Mister, you may or may not enjoy My Liberation Notes. Don't expect the same exhilaration you get from My Mister here, but surely, both series present the same level of production quality and character arcs. I like My Mister better, but there were many good thought-provoking aspects of My Liberation Notes.
The first pro I want to mention is the comedy. I absolutely love how this series handles funny moments. It comes from a quiet moment, there's no dialogue happening and it's funny due to the previous or next scenes. For example, the part of Mi Jeon demanding Mr. Gu to worship her and the scene of Mr. Gu alone realizing the word worship means and seeing his reaction. My favorite one is when Chang Hee has done something to Mr. Gu's car and Chang He's about to confess but instead of wearing his slippers, he decides to wear his runners instead. It was so funny! Because you could see what the character was thinking without them saying it.
Regarding the plot, I thought the first four episodes were exciting. then it got super slow midway and then the last four episodes were so beautifully done. They give a very satisfying arc to every single character, and even if they didn't end on a completely happy note, I felt hopeful by the end. It is worth mentioning that the dialogue is so heavy all the time, the conversation these characters have is telling me some sort of message across. It's very tiring to pay attention all the time, so this show is not binge-able, but more of one episode a day watch.
Speaking of the characters, I was invested not so much in their character but more in their fantastic acting and their story and growth. Each character is carefully described and redeemed. I love how all the siblings would talk about things that most people I think would be ashamed and sometimes embarrassed to admit. I loved Mi Jung's inner strength and how she takes the initiative to liberate herself. I found her relationship with Mr. Gu is very unique and unconventional. I warm up to Mr. Gu throughout the story, but I am slightly disappointed that his alcoholism is not handled. But the best part for me is Chang Hee. Watching his scenes at first I feel already connected to him. Then I'm so happy that in the last four episodes or so, the story focuses a lot on him. I loved how his monologues came out and how he become more mature, his story was just beautiful. I'm thinking of rewatching the show only for his scenes.
I want to praise the OST and sound effects. There's a heavy focus on a lot of ASMR sounds, like people walking, eating, breathing, and sighing. Because this screenplay focuses so much on a character's introspection and how they're feeling emotionally, it's really really nice to have it paired with silence and ASMR sounds. OST was just so beautiful and peaceful. It fuels me to continue watching when I kinda doze off when watching too much heavy dialogue and mundane scenes.
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Cute 15 min film
Overall: short & sweet. Able to watch on GagaOOLala for free https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/3498/delivery-boy-2019 and also officially on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL6MbI2dHzwContent Warnings: none
What I Liked
- fun jokes/lines such as, I'll bring the glue to put together your broken heart
- the symmetry of Eric wearing the jacket at the end that Chun Ho wore at the beginning
- loved the song he danced to towards the beginning
- his friend Jasper is amazing and that last shot is hilarious
Room For Improvement
- it would have been fun if Eric actually spoke the language and heard what the Chun Ho said when the bag of oranges fell (and we find that out later on)
- some improbable moments/lines
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A rare gem!
Ah! What can I even say? This is one of the best series I've ever watched! It is very lively and light on the heart! GMMTV never fails to impress their audience and leave them content by the end of it. The storyline and characters of this BL are very unique.It so beautifully highlights village life and it's difficulties, along with the fulfillment and joy that one gets from being loved by so many people.
The story of Tian with his rich and unfulfilled life contrasting the story of Phu with his strong dreams and will to serve the people and the way their lives and stories intertwine to become one in the end is a heartwarming journey! It is indeed painful that he has to live with the guilt of taking someone else's heart and making it his own, but the way he tries his best to fulfill what the original owner of the heart dreamt of, is very selfless indeed!
In a BL point of view, the sweet moments that they had, though limited, are very heart-fluttering! I thought it would be unnatural and was a little disappointed when they said "2 years later" but I was actually impressed by the way they made it look so natural and beautiful! That kiss in the end was the most awaited one! In the BL world, these are one of the most non-toxic couple and do deserve to be top-rated!
My favorite character I think would be Chief Phu (Earth) because of his extremely kind heart that totally contradicts his stern face, his caring and helpful nature, his extremely handsome physique and his powerful commanding ability. I have literally fallen in love with his character and even the actor! He is so talented and looks like a Greek God!
I even love Dr. Nam for being such a good friend and advisor along with teasing his friend every chance he gets. But I feel like Earth wouldn't have had the courage to confess to his man without Nam's support.
The casting for this series is very apt! The actors fit into those characters perfectly! So, a total 10/10 for the actors. Both Earth and Mix were exceptionally good!
By the way, Gmmtv should include in the disclaimer to take a box of tissues along with you while watching the last 3 episodes, cause literally all I did was cry in the last 3 episodes! The last forehead kiss in the airport though, makes you blush like hell and cry happy tears!
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A Simple Story of Being in Love, But the MC Got Lost in the Mix
There's a certain level of comfort that I always get from the miniseries and short films produced by Rela/The L (The company behind a seemingly popular Chinese lesbian dating and community app). There's an endearing simplicity to their storytelling signature and tone. Such as the amount of value and emphasis they put on small everyday moments, rather than big grand gestures.This particular story shows the evolution of a sort of friendship between Cooka and Tina, after Tina comes to Cooka's talent agency and fails to impress. Cooka, having an eye for talent, immediately takes her to get a classic romcom style makeover and their friendship (and Cooka's feelings) grows throughout subsequent interactions together afterwards. I can see why Cooka fell for Tina. She has a contagious bubbly personality that really livens up the room.
But alas, I think most people have had an some sort of experience falling for someone, knowing full well that it will never be able to be reciprocated. And that is what this film shows viewers. But rather than doing so in a queerbait-y way, it felt realistic. The producers essentially pranked the audience (which I do have a tendency to love) by showing what Cooka wished was the case, before reality came to hit her like a rock. But we still manage to end on a high note, by showing that there may be someone looking at you with hearts in their eyes while you are looking elsewhere. And by suggesting that a heartbreak now can lead you into a great love story later.
The music also reflected all these elements, starting off cutesy, before becoming more emotional and bittersweet.
My only major con here is the fact that I don't feel like we knew Cooka. The focus was so much on her love and the subject of her love, that she, as a character, got lost in the mix.
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I recommend watching this drama
this drama made me cry a lot but so eps are bored ing for me. this drama made me very very upset if youu watch it you know what i mean but over all this drama was very interesting and the main actor and actorness they actor really fantastic. i do not know why every time i watch them they look like they are a couple but i know they are not. i love how they act in every drama, this drama looked like it happened in real life. also I did not like how (Mu Xing Chen ) had long hair and it was tied you could of just leave it downWas this review helpful to you?
interesting take on relationships
This webdrama has 4 episodes focused on female lead and her quest to find a boyfriend who treats her the way she wants to be treated.The format of each episode is focused on flashbacks and mock interviews. The interviews give each character a chance to explain their motivation and reason why they did what they did. It isn't anything new, but makes this webdrama stand out among similar cliched love stories. You don't have to guess what caused the character to do something you don't get.
What I liked was showing the same female character progress while meeting new partners, but along the way her outlook was more of the same. She was looking for a partner who matches her, and wasn't willing to change herself much. Somewhat her repeating "why I always date the wrong guys" might seem overplayed and be a blame shifting mechanism, but it made the story more realistic to me. People can adjust their behaviour, but their core personality stays more or less the same. She maybe felt into a trap of trying to fix others before checking herself?
Acting from female lead is very good, one of the best portrayals I ever seen in a webdrama. She especially shines in the interview part of the episodes. Her character has that somewhat unlikeable type of complexity. Often female characters who don't act reasonable and are emotional (like we all are in real life) are considered flustrating. The thing is everyone has meh quirks and female characters who are written to have none are simply unrealistic. Let women have flaws.
The three actors did a great job, especially in episodes 3 and 4. Their characters had a chance to develope as the story progressed and it was good to watch.
Overall, it's a good webdrama. Short, grabs your attention, leaves you with decent conclusion and makes you ponder over your own relationships. The key word for this drama? Importance of communication.
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This was so much FUN!
I fell in love with this show and it's going to sound like I hated it. But I didn't.We're used to college themed BL's where an Engineer and some snarky or innocent "bottom" fall in love. That would be Mark/Kit. But the two main leads in this, Wayu and Thanu, are both very sweet, soft boi's. And neither of them are Engineers! Thank fuck!
In the web-series the drama was adapted from, Wayu and Mark are the center around which most things revolve. That's true in the drama as well, but Season 1 of Gen Y also goes way past where the web book left off-- which began as a sort of fan-fic based on 2 Moons. The author understandably didn't like Phana's character and set out to build a world where Wayo had options. She of course knocked the edges off by renaming the main characters and adding in original ones. Wayo became Wayu. Ming became Mark. Phana became Pharawee.
Mark and Wayu aren't really that much like Ming and Wayo. Mark isn't just an exuberant playboy with Teflon sensibilities. He's loyal. He can be hurt. He gets angry. He's fierce at times, tender at others. And while Wayo was defensive and closed off and couldn't easily express himself--Wayu is a people person who communicates well, is kind and open, and has big, BIG balls. Coming through the other side of a brutal breakup still having faith in love takes big, big balls. Standing up to Padbok when Wayu knew Padbok was probably going to kick his ass? Big, big balls. And yes, getting back in the saddle and trying another relationship after being literally abandoned took big, BIIiiggg balls. People rag on his crying in some of the other reviews. But crying doesn't mean weakness. Emotional vulnerability doesn't mean weakness. Real grieving takes time.
But Kit is still Kit. Still kind of stuck up. Still reactionary. Still very cross. Still not a pleasant person to date. The upside to this version of Kit is his relationship with Wayu. He's very sweet and soft for Wayu. For every moment when he gives Mark hell, he's caring for Wayu. So at least that adds dimension to the character and gives Copter something to run with. He's still not a character I much like. If I was Mark I'd have given up and chased after someone who acted like they actually wanted to be in a relationship.
Thanu, or as I like to call him--Captain Eyebrows--is handsome, tall, intense, kind and good-natured. Which naturally means he was doomed to struggle. He started out attracted to a boy he only saw in passing and didn't get to actually meet until Thanu was already falling in love with Wayu. He finally meets Phai and quickly becomes the textbook definition of fucked. Shared visions? Really!? Some may criticize that he avoided Wayu to take time to choose which boy he really should be with. And yes ghosting Wayu was a dick move, considering Wayu's past. But I think Thanu was trying to avoid hurting Wayu. Which made the choice stupid, not malicious. If that had been going on when I was in college, I'd have needed a trip to Tahiti, my metric weight in Rum and a complete social media blackout to handle it. So I'm good with Thanu. He picked Wayu. Plus, he's got a Mustang. How can I not love that?
Sab. While Wayu is somewhat of an ideal--cute, nice, polite, socially adept and genuine, Sab is snoopy to a prurient degree, he teases his cousin Wayu, he's meddlesome, hyperbolic and manipulative. In other words, he's perfect as Wayu's polar opposite. And they cast an actor that legitimately looks like he's related to Wayu! Love it!
I think Phai was supposed to be sweet and interesting. I wouldn't know. He has two expressions--'eyebrow up' and 'eyebrow down'. I've seen smooth river rocks with more personality.
In fact, except for Sandee and Sab, most of the support cast is forgettable. But Sandee? Wow, bro. Disney villain much? Though he's going to get out of baby bad-boi jail later on, because some of the fucked up stuff he does is due to being in love with Phai (and crazy) and the rest because he's deeply, deeply maladjusted (and crazy). For now he's as interesting as the support cast gets.
I didn't like Koh, who was insufferable. Or Pok and Tong who were hugely toxic? Padbok... Bro, you don't strangle someone because they're your frenemy's study-buddy. Klui and Kalae. Uh... Who? Jack was probably best of the rest, but even he made my eyes roll. Manhandling someone because they're smol is NOT cool, Jack. And I know I should probably care about the characters from the media arts faculty, but I don't. As for Pha... He was there for 30 seconds. I've got nothin' except Dayum. So, so tall.
As I said in the opening, I sound like I hated this show. But I loved it! Because Thanu/Wayu made it all worthwhile. In any given BL about 70% of it needs reworked or thrown out. It's that golden 30% you love a BL for. And that 30% is Thanu and Wayu.
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3 Inspiring women fighting relentlessly for their rights. + Savoury & Mouthwatering kissing scenes.
God knows how this pair drained all the sweetness in me... They're sucking it every coming episode that I was all dried-up and left with no juice to squeeze during the finale. Hahaha!This drama got tons of positive qualities but something that stands out to me was its plot. It went on in an orderly manner with proper phasing which helped the story not look clichė at all; and the way they fall in love gradually through their simultaneous interactions made their relationship more natural and acceptable.
The outstanding and flawless chemistry the Main leads brought to this drama is simply remarkable. Their casual 'fight-slash-flirting' scenes is too much for the heart. Not to mention the adoration and hearts you can see through the MLs eyes whenever he's looking at FL made it even more romantic— He's too smitten and it resonates. + The FLs clever way of solving things made the story more interesting and fun to watch.
I was full of giggles all the time and my adrenaline felt exhausted from running everytime they're flirting on screen. Like they were created to make me feel jealous and envious. Haha!
Another thing that made this drama standout from the rest is its great production design & beautiful costumes— Their styling is extremely pleasing and god knows how enchanting they all look with proper hairstyle, make up and clothing. I also love the color grading of this drama. Very warm, smooth and comfortable. It helps to escalate a lot of things to great heights specially with the overall look and feel of the drama.
One last thing that made this drama fun to watch is its light yet solid story progression and great character development. It never felt too rushed and forced so the characters got to grow and shine on their own. Although it was not always rainbows and colors for the leads, but they made sure that they improve and learn from all of it; and that made the story more interesting and enjoyable.
Something worthy to mention is the great dubbing. Finally for once. I felt comfortable and satisfied with how their mouth synchronized with the actual sound. So tired of other ridiculous ones.
P.S. The most ridiculous scene goes to the Final Episode when the ML was trying to feed the FL the circular coin-size pill using his mouth. The FL was laying by her chest so how the heck does she even swallow that? Hahaha!
Story - 10, The story was well created with good phasing. A comfortable run I would say. I was never bothered and disappointed of anything. + I just love the positivity and fun it brought to me the whole time I was watching it.
Acting - 10, Flawless and beyond convincing. Chen Xiao look so smitten. Like, was he even acting? I felt like he enjoyed it more than anyone. Hahaha! Also, Liu Yifei's excellence when it comes to controlling her facial expression made her character delightful and eye candy to watch. + All of the actors and actresses really did well in expressing and delivering their roles through their good acting and portrayal.
Music - 9.5, Decent BGM overall. It added lots of emotions and helps the overall feels of this drama. Good choice of songs and proper music placement I would say.
Rewatch Value - 10, Highly Recommended!! I finished it in over 3 days... The fastest since last year considering its 40 episodes. Every bits of it is worth watching.
Overall - 10, I would never have it any lesser. Everything is great. Not to mention how they were able to create this story without staining it with clichė and tropey plot. A drama that's worth every single second of my time.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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One of a kind! Rewatched multiple times!
Heart-wrenching and gorgeous C-drama. I love how in-depth this series was especially its focus on almost everyone and why they did the things they did bad or good. This drama does however takes some patience because of how many episodes it has however, it didn’t disappoint me at all. I especially love Zhou Xun’s acting in this one, the emotions she executed felt so real. No matter how many times I watch this drama, it felt like going on this journey with Ruyi and the obstacles she faced throughout the story. Definitely recommend to anyone who is patient enough to witness this once in a lifetime experience!Was this review helpful to you?
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Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! THIS. IS. AMAZING. I never thought that Singto can act this good! FUCKKK!!! now, i think he is such a good actor he could play a lot of role. The first series i watched he was in , SOTUS makes me feels that his acting will only reach average level but it turns out that the character is like that and he plays it so well, i thought it's really him. BUT DAMN GURL. IN THIS SERIES, he is so cuteeeeee! Like the character that he is suppose to play, Mes is suppose to be cute and not too timid, match with Ohm who play Tharn. GURLLLLL GURLLLLLL HE IS SO FUCKING CUTE AND SUCH A HEART THROBBING GUY. DAMN DAMNNNNN
The chemistry between these two is perfect! Tharn is playful but at the same time when he try to unravel the way Mes died is so sincere like he wants to know what is the real reason behind Mes's death. The plot somehow is perfect! From the beginning, it portrays how they met and soon, Tharn grows up to be a very very beautiful man *winkwonk*. I love it how there is only 2-3 kiss scene? The series teases a little bit with the audience and it's just a right amount of teasing. It's enough to makes us wonder and interest us to watch it more.
The closure is good. We know what happened to Khiem, Prince, Tharn, Mes and Praifah. The plot twist is damn son. I never expect that Mes was Praifah's uncle. SHIT SHIT SHIT. Anyway, i like it when Khiem can see Ngoon. LMAO its his turn to help her now. HAHAHAHAHAH and slight slack in the ending for Tharn X Mes. I wish Tharn meet Mes in human form instead of still be with him while he is a ghost. Like that way, they could get married right? okno ahahahahha but really. Later or sooner, Tharn have to say goodbye to Mes too its just that he have to wait until Mes's present life to end. DAMN.
P/S: FUCKING WATCH THIS. Im gonna rewatch this next year. Damn Ohm. How can you be so hot and good at acting. This is illegal. anyway, i used to not like Singto because i think he is lack in acting but boyyyyy I AM WRONG!
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Imperfect Perfection / Get´s better the more you watch and understand it
Even though I agree with some of your negative reviews, I also have to disagree with the bad description of Haru´s background in "Secret". As you may know, he was chosen to only be a side character in the story, which we all know from mangas, manhwas etc., and in those, there was never an explained background about a simple side character either.That´s what it is about. Main Characters portraying Side Characters.
The writer never intended to make a big story about him, that´s why he also has no home. He is that guy who just fills the background scenes. He just lives for the protagonists. Nothing more. (At first)
If you talk about after he came back as Baek Kyung´s friend, then I agree. At that point, he should have had at least a bit of background because he became an extra there. Someone who could influence an important character.
Also, I can explain myself the open ending:
Haru disappeared, they finished the "Secret" Comic and went to the next. But she kept her memories, at least got them back when she saw the drawing, and then they found each other again. Under the Tree. Where they wanted to meet again.
The reason the writer wasn´t mentioned, he/she/them don´t know anything about the changes, because he/she/they maybe don´t even know his characters have an ego nor that the shadow exists. So Haru and Dan-Oh will find themselves always, in secret. Since they are somewhat connected, they can´t ignore the connection they build during their last comics.
To me, it made sense that they had an open-end since creativity has no end too and maybe there will be even more comics after. We don´t know. But it was never questioned before with other side-characters who really were JUST those.
Okay, so the point I tried to make clear was:
They are side-characters - main characters in the series - who try to change someone's fate. Still, they always continued being "only extras", and most of the time, extras don´t get their own end.
I hope you could follow up on my thoughts, at least a little bit...
Also, I recommend you to rewatch it, once you know the whole plot, then you will see Haru a lot more often in the beginning, since he had his ego all along.
xoxo Lin
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Couple matching with a twist
People looking for love (or money) try to couple up with another person looking for love (or money). If they succeed they get $10,000. The problem they face is that two real couples (called mafia) that are mixed in with the group. If they happen to pair up with a mafia person the mafia person gets the money. However, if a mafia person couples up with another mafia person they get nothing.It sounds simple but it proved to be harder than they thought and truthfully much more entertaining for the viewer. They even get one chance to eliminate people, hopefully the mafia people, but even that can be difficult. The one episode series was not quite 2 hours long and it was fun to watch. There were areas that could be tweaked to make it a little more entertaining and I would liked to have seen a secret vote on the people suspected of being mafia.
There wasn’t much time to get to know the people but it was enough to to bring suspense to the reveal of the pairings. I was surprised by some of the reveals. So if you like this sort of thing, as I do, give it a try.
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Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring
4 people found this review helpful
About how a child monk growing and knowing about what is life. this movie is on my paln to watch so long and i always wonder is it good or not, BUT just with 10 minutes this movie can stole my heart.
A really beautiful scenery with a really deep meaning story is what makes this movie one of my most favourite movie. the monk's acting is good, and the child actor is brilliant.
when you watch this movie you will realize how is life so beautiful and make you wonder what you'll do in your life.
this kind of movie will not disappointed you.
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